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Spitz' Infant Isolation Experiment

Description: In 1945, Spitz worked with Austrian child psychologist Katherine M. Wolf, of Yale University. Spitz and Wolf studied 91 infants in orphanages in the USA and Canada. Despite good medical care and nutrition, over one third of the children studied had died before their first birthday. Spitz and Wolf’s studies found that children given daily personal care (including social interactions and physical contact) developed normally, while children who did not receive sufficient attention suffered from poor development and general failure to thrive. Symptoms included retarded physical development, retarded development of both motor and language skills, and increased susceptibility to disease.Show more

with René Spitz, 1887-1974 (Akron, OH: University of Akron. Cummings Center for the History of Psychology, 1947), 24 mins

A report on the effects on infants of prolonged separation from the mother, or mother substitute, during the first year of life showing the development of reversible depressive behavior patterns of psychotic symptoms. For psychiatrists, psychologists, pediatricians, medical practitioners, penologists, sociologists...

A report on the effects on infants of prolonged separation from the mother, or mother substitute, during the first year of life showing the development of reversible depressive behavior patterns of psychotic symptoms. For psychiatrists, psychologists, pediatricians, medical practitioners, penologists, sociologists, medical and college students, nurses, social workers.

with René Spitz, 1887-1974 (Akron, OH: University of Akron. Cummings Center for the History of Psychology, 1953), 20 mins

During their first year, babies need food, shelter, and above all, someone to love them. Nothing can replace the loving care given by a mother or her substitute. Shows the healthy development of a child well-loved and cared for, and then children who lost their mothers and whose substitute was inadequate, with the...

During their first year, babies need food, shelter, and above all, someone to love them. Nothing can replace the loving care given by a mother or her substitute. Shows the healthy development of a child well-loved and cared for, and then children who lost their mothers and whose substitute was inadequate, with the consequence of a severe mourning reaction and life-long psychiatric disturbances.